Lakeside Anxiety

When I was a kid, one of my favorite summer activities was to take the boat out on Loon Lake and cruise around, maybe go fishing or tubing, enjoy the great outdoors.  There are many lakes in my hometown, Waterford Michigan, but the lake I went on the most was Loon Lake.  My grandparents used to own lakeside property over there, and they had a pontoon boat which we took out many times.  Sometimes, we went out on my dad's smaller boat which was better for tubing and traveling through the intersecting canals that lead to nearby lakes.

The only issue I really had with boating had to do with my anxiety.  I could not help imagining the worst.  What if the boat sank?  What if I fell out of the boat, hit my head, and no one noticed?  Okay, that seems like an extreme example but when you are in that state of mind, the anxiety is very real. It is also didn't help that I have the imagination of the inspiring fantasy novelist that I am, which made my scenarios sometimes tend on the surreal, at times.

Anxiety is a big problem for many higher functioning individuals who are on the autism spectrum, including myself.  What things might your child be anxious about?  In my case, I can find something to be anxious about in almost every situation I find myself in.  This is something that I am working on and I'm getting better.